According to reports, Apple has recently provided its developers with back-to-back builds of the system update — a tell-tale sign that development is winding down.

These recent builds were labeled Mac OS X 10.3.9 build 7W86 and 7W87, respectively, and weigh-in at approximately 113MB in Combo Updater-form.

Reliable reports indicate that Mac OS X 10.3.9 will improve boot time for machines with a large number of fonts, while tweaking the performance of Directory Services and FireWire audio. It will also deliver video, USB, fax and modem driver fixes.

In general, Apple is aiming to tie any and all loose ends in Mac OS X 10.3 Panther with the release of 10.3.9, which may be the last update to the system before the company shifts full-focus to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, due next month.